NO TO KAGAN – AT 8:50 P.M. ET:  My friend Scott Johnson, one of the three Power Liners, has written the best set of arguments yet on why Elena Kagan should not be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice.  While we raise Shirley Sherrod to Mount Rushmore status, the nation is forgetting that we're about to get a new justice, however charming and brilliant she may be, with a very disturbing record.  Read Scott's piece here.

It was perfectly obvious that both Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, Obama's previous choice for the Court, were heavily coached in preparing their testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, part of the confirmation process.  Both swore obeisance, for example, to the Second Amendment.  But Sotomayor, in the recent case regarding the Chicago handgun ban, did a complete 180 and contradicted her own testimony, without apology.  There is now nothing that can be done about it.

In her own testimony, Kagan was grilled about her banning of military recruiters from the Harvard Law School because of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.  She replied to a questioner by assuring him that "I revere the military."  Oh, come on, Elena.  That's a coached line.  I come from the same neighborhood in Manhattan where Kagan grew up.  No one there uses that vocabulary.

Kagan is known for her political skills.  She has so little experience as a lawyer that her legal skills are largely unknown.  Like the president who appointed her, she has virtually no paper trail. 

I fear we're getting a politician for the Court.  I hope to be pleasantly surprised.  I don't think I will be.

Read Scott Johnson's argument.

July 24, 2010